Spider Webs
by Wren Wild
Summary: From a thread to a string to a cord to a cable to bridge. Forming the connection between the two boys was simple. Crossing the bridge wasn't that hard. It's the surviving in another world part that will be a problem.
1. Web of Connections

Long have two worlds existed in separated harmony; one in near constant war, the other in near constant fear.

It had always been so. It would have always been so.

Except, in one world, one boy defied fate. In another, one boy defied death.

Both would fight so that their worlds may continue. Both would live so that their worlds may change.

Their similar reasons for existing had drawn a link between them. It was a thin link, a small link, but the link existed. From the two boys, their link spread.

First, to a girl who would heal; from both, to a boy who would kill, from all three, to the first teacher, from all four, to the next teacher. From there, they made links to those who already had links; to a woman who had healed, a man who had sealed, a man who had killed. And all to an old warrior who had set them on the paths they were on.

The boy who defied death, his first connection in his own world was to a large man, a happy man, who let him into a small, fearful world that he was to save. The next link was to a fire-haired boy, and a wild-haired girl, and a blond-haired boy who wasn't exactly nice. From there a link was made to an old man who would die, a woman who was a cat, a man who was a phoenix in a snake's scales. And all to an old snake who had set them on the paths they were on.

Since the two boys had been living, a cosmic tug-of-war had been going on. Both worlds were fighting to stay the same, no farther apart, no closer together. Either the link between the two boys would break or it would grow stronger; sending the worlds spinning apart or crashing together.

The bond grew stronger.

It happened slowly, the growth of their link, but gradually, the strengthening picked up speed. The connection went from a thread to a string to a cord to a cable, and finally, to a bridge.

But there was somethhing wrong with the bridge; it was not finished, as if a single nail had not been hammered in. For that nail to be hammered in, something neended to happen.

There needed to be a catalyst.

* * *

The demon could feel the two worlds growing closer. He could feel the link between the two boys, see the threads of the universe coming undone and lashing onto different threads. he could almost taste the strange chakra of the other boy.

The demon knew what the other boy looked like, could see him in his host's dreams. The fuuinjustu master, the one that smelled like frog, thought the dreams came from the demon.

The demon was vaguely insulted. Why would he send dreams that possessed such blatant love for humanity?

It did amuse him that they thought him capable of dream-weaving. No, his strength lied in playing the threads of the universe; break a thread here, set that one to vibrating, this one to loosen, twitch his tail to give it direction, and voila- a tsunami, or an avalanche, or a destroyed mountain.

But that was before he was imprisoned. Now he could not reach the physical fibers of the world, only the metaphysical. He'd thought it a curse, but perhaps it was a blessing inn disguise.

He would pluck and pull and trip and touch and trigger threads and strings and cords and cables until the way to this new world would unfold before him.

Perhaps the rules of this new world would be different, perhaps the shinigami would have no sway over him there. Perhaps, perhaps, he might -maybe- might just manage to get free.

* * *

At the knock at her door, Tsunade looked up from the paper work that was well over a week and a half past due.

"Baa-chan?"

"I told you not to call me that!" the fith hokage snarled, and then frowned when the paperweight she'd thrown wasn't dodged.

"What's wrong? The dreams again?" Tsunade had laughed when her blonde ninja had told her he'd been dreaming about a boy-really, Jiraiya would be heartbroken his protege barked up the other tree- but had then grown concearned. What at first sounded like teenaged hormones now sounded like like some sort of psychic connection. If Naruto's dreams were to be believed, the boy- Hari Potta- dreamed about Naruto as well.

A quick shake of a blond head deepened Tsunade's concern.

There were only three things that got Naruto in a funk; it wasn't the dreams, so it had to be Sasuke. But if it was the Uchiha, Naruto would be halfway to where ever Sasuke was, not standing in her office looking sick with worry.

If it wasn't Uchiha Sasuke, and it wasn't the dreams....

"It's the the fox."

In the second of stillness before the Kyuubi's chakra exploded from the boy's body, Tsunade could have sworn she heard the damned thing laugh.

* * *

He had to get away, had to run away, away from the demon, from the demon in the boy, the demon _out_ of the boy, the demon that was hunting him,_ had to get away! _

Harry had seen the boy in other dreams, but none were as real as this. And the other boy was never like this... not like the murderous, slavering, _beast_ that was chasing him. The boy he'd begun to know through watching him had blue eyes, not red, and normal pupils, not ones slitted like a cat's eyes. The boy certainly wasn't harmless, but he wasn't cruel.

Harry didn't want to know where the beast had come from, or how he'd taken possesion of the boy's body; Harry just wanted to wake up before the demon caught up with him. He didn't know what would happen then. In all his previous dreams- of the blond boy or the ones sent by Voldemort- Harry had been an observer, like an unseen ghost. Now, though, he was at the center of the action and he wanted_ out_.

He turned another corner in the dreamscape- a muggle sewer?- and sloshed through the muddy water-he hoped it was mud- as fast as he could. Another few bounds and the demon would be on him.

Harry ran faster.

* * *

Ten steps, about face, ten steps, about face, ten steps, about face, ten steps.

Ten by ten.

The deminsions of Tsunade's office; or at least, the _new_ deminisions now that every thing had been pushed to the side to make room.

To make room for the seal painted in blood on her floor.

Naruto was lying in the center of it, limp, locked in his mind, battling the damned fox, and there was nothing Tsunade could do about it.

Naruto and the Kyuubi's chakra were fluctuating with greater strength now, and the council was about to break down her door, baying for blood.

"Kakashi," the jounin looked up from the scroll he was studying with Jirayia.

"Go get Naruto's friends."

Jirayia looked up then too.

"You're sure it's safe?"

Tsunade sighed, and walked to her window.

"They'll want to say goodbye."

* * *

She'd known since the mission to save the Kazekage that Naruto had the Kyuubi in him.

She'd known since she started training under Tsunade that if her team mates were ever considered "too" dangerous, she would be responsible for... dealing with them.

Sakura hoped to god that Kakashi hadn't meant it was time to deal with Naruto when he told her to come say her goodbyes.

Naruto was still alive, that much she knew. How much of him was still Naruto...

Sakura was hoping he wasn't there mentally. She didn't want to see his eyes when she slit his throat.

* * *

The demon following him was catching up. All those years of evading Dudley,his cousin's friends, and various Death Eaters had paid off, but he was no more a match for a demon than a muggle was for a dementor.

Harry couldn't keep running like this forever.

He grasped his wand and prepared to face the possessed boy.

* * *

Tsunade looked over the gathered people that had come to protest Naruto's death. There were more than she had expected.

All the rookie nine, Team Gai, their teachers, Iruka and the owners of Ichakaru Ramen had shown up; even Uchiha had somehow managed to ditch his ANBU guard and was lurking the shadows, looking just as pale and shaky as Sakura and Kakashi.

None of them ever thought they would loose their sunshine blonde, it was evident on their faces.

The surprises were that Morino Ibibki, and Mitarashi Anko had shown up. Apparently Naruto had made an impression on them.

They all stared at her; some eyes were full of tears, others were flooded with accusation.

Tsunade locked eyes with Sakura, and nodded towards Naruto.

She watched with melancholy pride as her student pulled herself together and withdrew a kunai from her pouch, striding towards her downed teammate.

Ino was struggling with Asuma, trying to get to Sakura, to stop her, but her sensei was having none of it.

After a few more moments of futile thrashing, Ino called out;

"Sakura, if you take one more step, you'll never hear from me again!"

Sakura kept walking.

* * *

When Naruto woke up, it was dim, wet, and cold. He didn't like it much.

Naruto stood up, looked around, and wondered why the hell he was in his mind _this_ time; he didn't_ remember_ being in any life threatening situations.

He shrugged, sat back down with a splash, and began meditating. He wasn't going to spend anymore time near the fox than he absolutely had to.

When he opened his eyes the second time, he was still in his mind, though a little closer to the place where he would return to consciousness.

Naruto got up once more and sighed; looked like he was going to have to do this the manual way. He got up slowly, stretching and cursing the fox as he went.

He took two strong strides, tripped, and fell flat on his face.

The thing he'd tripped over groaned.

* * *

Naruto was screaming at the fox, the fox was roaring at Naruto, and the boy - who was very much _not_ suppposed to be here _in his mind_- was huddling against the wall looking very much afraid.

"Why the _hell_ is he _here_?!?"

" LEAVE, YOU WORTHLESS BAG OF FLESH"

"EXPLAIN _NOW_!"

"IMBECILLIC MORTAL!"

"FLEA-RIDDEN FUR-BAG!"

"BASTARD CHILD!"

"LEAVE MY PARENTS OUT OF THIS!"

"BE HONORED I EVEN GRACE THEM WITH MY MENTION!"

"I'LL BE _HONORED _WHEN YOU'RE _DEAD,_ YOU BLOODY SACK OF _FUR!"_

The Kyuubi roared and slammed himself against the bars of his cage, and the boy with the green eyes and Sasuke-wild-hair whimpered, and clutched his broken hand closer to him.

Naruto snarled at the damned fox one last time, then stalked over to the boy. The boy scrambled up, and backed away, brandishing a broken stick awkwardly in his left hand.

Naruto didn't exactly blame the kid; when they'd woken up, they had been on Kyuubi's side of the cage, so who knew what had happened while he was out.

Naruto sat down and held up his hands.

"I'm not gonna attack you, 'tebayo!"

No reaction. Well then.

"Damn, that's right you speak that wierd funky language, huh? Well that kind of sucks,'tebayo."

The boy looked alarmed, and kept glancing from him to the fox, and back again.

Naruto turned around and shouted,

"Shut up, stupid fox!" And turnedd back to the boy, and beckoned him closer.

The boy just aimed the broken stick at his head. Which was stupid, really, considering that the chest was a larger target, and even if you didn't hit the heart there was still some pretty damn important stuff in there. Silly little civie. It was almost more cute than it was stupid.

Naruto pulled out a roll of bandages from one of his pockets, pointed to his hand, pointed at the kid's hand-regardless of the fact the boy looked about the same age as him, the boy was a kid, Naruto decided- and gestured him over again.

This time, the kid wavered before he slowly lowered his stick.

* * *

Harry didn't know what the hell was going on; first, he'd been running for his life from the blond guy with the red eyes. Then the blond had been on him, and somehow his hand had been broken -which really, _really_ hurt-, and his wand was barely a thread away from being snapped clean in half-which was really, _really_ bad. Some point affter that he must have hit his head pretty hard, because the next thing he remembered, the very same blonde that had been trying to maim him was leaning over him, just staring at him. And his eyes were blue instead of red again.

That was what convinced him, when the blond was sitting down and offering bandages for his crumpled hand, to lower his wand and inch over.


	2. Red World

Naruto was bored.

They had established- through much flailing, pointing and general limb shaking- that they both had dreams about each other, they new each other's names, and as long as they didn't go near the bars of the Kyuubi's cage, they were good.

Right about then communications slid to a halt. Apparently, dreaming in different languages could only get you so far.

Naruto was bored, but beneath that he was worried. The only other person to have been in his mind was Sasuke, when the teme was still training under Orochimaru.

That experience, while beyond freaky, could at least be explained away by the sharingan, but this _Harry Potter_ person wasn't even a ninja.

Nothing really made sense; the Kyuubi was definately involved in the reason Harry Potter was here, so he should be able to get him out.

Except he didn't want to. Which meant Kyuubi _wanted_ him here.

Which meant that no matter why Green-Eyes was here, it would probably end badly. Naruto glared balefully at the fox before making up his mind.

Nothing for it then. Naruto stood up, stretched and offered his hand to help Harry up.

When their skin touched, the world flashed red, and the Kyuubi howled his triumph.

* * *

Headmaster Albus Wulfric Percival Brian Dumbledore was mildly worried when Harry Potter reported a change in his dreams.

Oh, yes, the visions of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named continued, but visions of another boy manifested as well.

The boy was around Harry's age, around fifteen, but had faced vast amounts of death, and caused much of it.

It was interesting, seeing Harry's dreams in his pensieve. The boy, Uzumaki Naruto, had killed before, and yet was still so pure, so willing to sacrafice for his friends, for the greater good. It was a good virtue to have, Dumbledore thought, and shouldn't he know? He and Harry had it as well.

No, the dreams were not a cause for worry, merely curiosity.

What _was _worrying, though, was that Harry had been asleep, locked in his dreams for a day and a half now and would not wake up. He could be roused enough to be made to open his eyes, but he was clearly not aware of his physical surroundings. Legilimency revealed only a wall of bubbling red magic coupled with sinister intent, and an image of a giant fox that made his heart beat a little bit faster than was probably good for it.

The Headmaster shook himself from his musings when a bell on his desk _ting-ting-ting_ed. Poppy was wanting his presence in the infirmary, then.

* * *

Sasuke wasn't handling this well. Kakashi doubted anyone else could see it, but it was there.

It was there in the way Sasuke's eyes were almost red, in the way he clung to the shadows in the room like they were a lifeline, and in the way his knuckles were clenched and just a shade paler than the rest of his hands.

Granted, Kakashi wasn't handling this well either, but he was hiding it better.

He'd had more practice in loosing team mates than his students had.

Kakashi couldn't help but be proud of Sakura, though. She was handling it remarkably well, considering she was the one that would be doing the deed in a few short moments.

She was pale, but they were all pale. There wasn't a hint of trembling in her countenance, or white in the fingers wrapped around the hilt of her kunai. Her steps were even and sure, not rushed and not staling. She hadn't so much as flinched at Ino's outburst, and she was staring straight at Naruto, not denying what was about to happen.

Kakashi though that if this was how it felt to be proud of one's own offspring, no wonder his father had taken his own life.

* * *

On the inside, Sakura was crying. She was raging and she was screaming and she was sobbing and she was cursing and and she was kicking and she was punching and she was flailing and she was keening and she was so, _so_ angry.

On the outside, though, she was still.

She was calm.

She was collected.

She was accepting.

She was poised

She was controlled.

Mostly, she was blank.

She was approaching her team mate at a snail's pace, and it was too fast by half. Sakura could feel the anger through her numbness; anger at the council for ordering this, at Tsunade for not stopping it, at herself for not fighting it. Sakura was of half a mind to grab Naruto and run, but she couldn't abandon her family and friends.

Konoha was what made Sakura herself.

She came to a stop before Naruto, careful not to smudge any of the seals on the floor.

Sakure was part of what made up Konoha.

She kneeled beside him, kunai held loosely in her hand.

Haruno Sakura was a shinobi, and a good one.

She would make her village proud.

She rested the kunai against her team mate's throat, and prepared herself to make the cut.

The world turned red beefoore she got the chancce to.


	3. Incoming!

Naruto is floating in a sea of power, and it is glorious.

Naruto thinks that this is what the universe must be like. There's so much potential here, so much that it can only spread outward, and away, _in_fecting and _a_ffecting everything it touches with it's raw _could be_'s and _what if_'s. It is intoxicating.

Naruto is vaguely aware of other beings near him, but they are so small, so _trivial_ in contrast to this universe. It makes it hard to focus on them. It makes it hard to remember that there is something more to living than simply _existing, _simply existing as Naruto is. It is so _very _hard to do anything more than feel the currents of power, to breath in, and out, and in and out and in and out.

And out and out and out and out and out and out and _out_, until it feels like his lungs are smaller than a pinhead, and his chest feels like there is a thousand pounds of weight on him.

After a million eternities, or so it seems, Naruto draws in a breath of the universe, and then _screams_ it out, because the sea has become a tsunami, and the caresses of the universe feel more like a thousand needles are threading through his skin, and-

And then it is ending. There is nothing, and Naruto wants to keen, because he wants all the promises that the universe had held.

He doesn't though, because he is stronger than that. Around him, the beings seem a little larger now, a little more important. They are strong too.

He thinks he might recognize them, but they are still not as important as the universe, as the nothingness.

But two are insistent, in their will to be noticed, and Naruto can't help but feel that they are important. The thought niggles at his brain, worries at his soul.

The two drift closer to him, and he turns towards them. They _are_ important, but this confuses him. The only thing important is the universe, the nothingness.

Slowing though, a concept takes form. If these beings are important, and only the universe is important, then these beings _are_ the universe.

Naruto opens his eyes to the Forbidden Forest, and knows he must protect his universe from the danger in this new world.

* * *

When the Head Master arrived in the infirmary, Pomfrey was arguing fiercely with Harry, who was insisting he need to get to the Forbidden Forest _right this instant_, because the boy he'd been dreaming about was there. Poppy was having none of it.

Dumbledore was just about to intervene when Mcgonogall burst into the infirmary, reporting that there were intruders in the forest, that Severus and Hagrid had already headed out, and that all students were or soon would be secure in their dorms.

Not a second after she had finished speaking, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasly skidded to a halt in front of the open doors.

"We're going too." The only girl of the golden trio stated.

Their head of house frowned fiercely at the two of them, then swung her head around to share her glare with Harry as well.

"You will do no such thing!"

All three scowled at her; the were in their sixth year, nearly of age, had been through countless dangerous adventures, and she was saying _no_? Well, it wasn't like they couldn't just sneak out after them...

Harry told her so.

Mcgonagall looked ready to really tear into the adolescent boy, but the headmaster interrupted:

"My dear girl, Harry is the one that knows the most about these foreigners. It would be best if our boy was there to help further blossoming relations along."

"They are children, Albus!"

...

"Do you think they have lemon drops, where they're from?"

Mcgonagall sighed in defeat. One simply could not argue with Albus.

* * *

An old man, a giant of a man, a man garbed entirely in black, a cat, and three children on the cusp of adulthood.

It was indeed a strange group that Naruto Clone Number Thirty-two reported in about.

Tsunade nodded at it to show that she had heard, and it disappeared in a puff of smoke, letting the other forty or so clones and original know what it had learned.

Three minutes later, clone number twenty-seven reported that the same group was headed towards them.

Five minutes after that, clone number thirteen reported the same. They would be on top of her people in less than fifteen minutes.

"Sakura," Tsunade called out."What's our situation with inventory?"

A pink head snapped up to located her hokage, and when she found her Sakura jogged over.

"We don't have much; twenty to thirty kunai and fifteen to twenty shuriken per person. We've got a total of twenty-three smoke bombs, five exploding tags, seven spools of wire, and whatever you and Jiraiya-sama have in your scrolls. We've no access to summons; Naruto clone number eight has already tried."

Tsunade sighed, she'd hoped for more. As it was, the'd have to make do.

"Baa-chan! In coming in three!"

Tsunade was reasonably sure this was the original, as it(he?) didn't poof after reporting, but that was something to contemplate later- for now, she had a threat-level to assess.

"You heard the man! In coming in three minutes or less! Head up into the trees, stick with you squads, and don't do anything stupid! Jiraiya, you're with me."


	4. Kidnapping: A Common Occurrence

Naruto peered down through the trees. Baa-chan and Ero-sennin were speaking with the old guy with the crazy long beard in Green-Eyes' language. Or, at least, a little of the language. They weren't exactly fluent. They were also talking to each other in mission-speak; subtle twitches of fingers, a shift of position, tapping of a foot, stuff like that. He only knew a little bit of Anbu-speak- most of it was beyond him- but he could deal with mission-speak. It'd only taken Ero-sennin every spare moment of the three year training trip to pound it in to his head, but he had to admit, it was useful.

That, and it was pretty damn cool to know more about something than Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan combined (granted, they were both as fluent as he was _now_, but it was still nice to think about).

He was startled out of his musings when the group of …lizards? ...Wizards! shifted around so that Green-Eyes was up front with the old man, his two friends close behind. Naruto leaned forward so he could see around the branches better. Green-Eyes was looking around instead of paying attention to the conversation. Did he know that most of their number was hiding up in the trees? Probably.

Baa-chan apparently thought the same, because just then she turned towards him, waving him down from the tree with one hand, and using the other to give the _hold position_ signal to everyone else.

He cut the chakra flow to his feet and let gravity pull him off the branch. He heard a _Tch_ from behind and above him as he came out his controlled fall into a crouch. So yeah, maybe he was showing off a little for the civilians, but it was _fun_. And the looks on their faces! It made him nostalgic for his pranking days.

He stood up, and directed a cheery wave to Green-Eyes, who returned it with a snort of laughter.

"So… Whatcha need, Baa-chan?"

Tsunade glared at him, but her eyes were smiling as she scolded him for calling her old. Naruto tuned out after that, because while all the inane little comments were funny, they weren't nearly as important as the mission-speak.

_I want intel- threat level, alliances, who's in power, maps, languages, and the like. I want a report as soon as you've got information. Haruno and the Uchiha are with you. Sakura is on Tactics, Sasuke is on Recon, and Kakashi will hang around for back-up. Update them on what you know, and then focus on relations. We don't know where we are, how we got here, or how long we'll be here; so far, things seem friendly- we'll all make an effort to keep it that way, but you and your team will be the closest to the Potter boy. He's got influence, though from what you've already told me it looks like he doesn't realize it. Remember- Intel and Integrate._

No one had any idea what was going on, they were deep in what might be enemy territory, their supplies were limited, and their likelihood of surviving relied completely on their ability to adapt and react. Naruto could feel a grin stretching his face- this was going to be _fun_!

* * *

Harry was more than a little nervous - two-thirds of the three ninja standing in front of the Hogwarts party were the strongest he was aware of. And Naruto had put one in power, and trained under the other. The Headmaster had beckoned him forward, and then the woman- Godaime? It wasn't her name, but Harry hadn't heard anything else with enough frequency for it to stick- had gestured Naruto down out of the trees. The _trees. _A small part of Harry was still trying to get over that, but most of him was busy grinning back at the boy.

Dumbledore was still smiling benignly, so Harry heaved a sigh and shuffled closer to the blond. He was still pretty rattled from the Giant Fox of Doom, but Naruto's eyes were about as blue as a person's eyes could get, and apparently his wand was fixable. He decided not to dwell on it.

Harry's "…Hullo." was directed at Naruto, and a clumsy half bow towards the two adults standing next to him. The white haired man wasn't impressed, but Godaime at least looked amused.

At that point, Naruto started babbling at breakneck speeds, and Harry was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to understand it, even if he _was_ speaking English.

"They're from a different world and they speak Japanese. What are the chances there would be a language in common? This is _fascinating_!" And apparently Hermione was a ninja too, because since when had she been standing next to him?

"Uh, Hermione, you do realize that those two are the strongest Ninja Naruto's ever met, right?"

"Oh, hush, I'm sure that they're perfectly civil." And she was off, talking just as fast as Naruto, asking questions faster than could be answered, and _never mind the language barrier._ This time it was the man's turn to look amused, except, nope not amused, just staring at Hermione's chest. Harry bristled, and then Naruto started squawking _"Ero-sennin!" _and everything just kind of degenerated from there.

Harry sighed. How was this his life?

* * *

Not long after Noise and Chaos decided to drop by, Snape decided that if someone would just cast a bloody translation charm things would go a lot smoother. So he did, and the three ninja on the forest floor promptly Freaked Out.

Harry, while massively displeased and freaking out a little bit himself, was in no way surprised to find himself pinned to the white-haired man's chest with something sharp at his throat, or to see that Snape was pinned to a tree by no less than six knives going through the extraneous fabric of his robes. Hermione had been knocked to the ground, and when she made to stand up, and blade buried itself three inches from her hand.

"What. Was. That." And wow, but that woman was a lot scarier when you could understand her. So maybe Harry could sort of understand the way everyone else was frozen up, but honestly, he was the one with a knife at his neck, did he really have to be the one to explain?

…Yes, yes he did.

"A Translation charm- Merlin, that's sharp- just for communication- not harmful at all!"

Godaime was still staring at the main group of wizards, but her head was turned ever so slightly towards Harry.

"A warning would have been appreciated."

Harry didn't quite know what to say to that, so he just tilted his head back to try to avoid the knife when he swallowed.

"Ah, duly noted. My name is Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, whose grounds you are currently occupying. Perhaps my student could be released, and we could discuss what brings you here?"

Godaime and the man- Ero-sennin?- glanced at each other for a long moment.

"If it's all the same to you, Headmaster, I think we'll keep him until we figure things out a bit more."

Harry didn't have time to ratchet his level of Freaked up much before he was spinning up and away, further into the Forbidden forest, held captive by ninja who thought they were in enemy territory.

Honestly, being kidnapped was almost common-place for him nowadays.


End file.
